watch the world go by
by codependency
Summary: It is said that coffee shops are full of unexplored mysteries, ones that are never explored because they are never discovered. Lucy's entire life was a mystery, and the coffee shop was her favourite place to go. -—LucyLouis, and a nothing turning into absolutely everything.


For Fanfiction Idol - Round II on hpfc, and prompts taken from Prompt of the Day on RoseScorpius Fans.

warning: there is cousincest in here.

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_on top of the world_

_coffee shops, broken promises, red lipstick_

_oneshot (more than 1k)_

_lucylouis_

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It is said that coffee shops are full of unexplored mysteries, ones that are never explored because they are never discovered. Coffee shops are not worthy of noting, they are nothing in a world of fast-paced bars, clubs and classy restaurants.

The coffee shop was Lucy's world. More accurately, the people in the coffee shop were Lucy's world. They were the type of people that most wouldn't care to associate with, but, to Lucy, they were wonderful. They were artists, writers, widows, the single and the divorced. All of those who had nothing better to do but sit in an old coffee shop and watch the world go by.

There are the old, staring out of the window as if with one look the whole world could reverse and turn back to the way it used to be, and there are the young, who wish the world wasn't the way it was.

That is the thing they all have in common—all of them wish the world could change, even if some wish for it only to change in a slight way. Lucy wishes the world would change in many ways; ways that she knows could never come true.

She often wishes she could tell them of her blood status, the fact that she's a witch, not like the rest of them. But, then she saddens herself, thinking of how different she is to the rest of them, when all she ever wanted was to be connected to the rest of the world, and not numb and isolated like she's always been. She contents herself with drinking cup after cup of coffee, and getting to know the stories of the Muggles who seem to reside in the coffee shop. She hears stories of broken promises, golden lockets, heartbreaks and storms.

It's as though she sees into the heart of the world, looking through to the ones who come to the coffee shop. It's a place where people go when there's nowhere else to go, and so Lucy ends up there more often than not. She dreams of the days when she had something to her name, the days when she was sure she was in love, and she dreams of the days when she was pushed away by the one she loved more than anything. Looking into the hearts of people who pass by is interesting, but it's heartbreaking when she realises that, eventually, the others all find other places to go and she is the only one who remains, until more people find the coffee shop that is almost hidden away on the London streets.

He crosses her mind almost every day, and she wishes that there were a way she could forget, but the moment she begins to think of _Obliviate_, she realises that she could never extinguish him from her mind. It never worked out, and yet she can never let herself simply forget about him. To forget seems as though to almost wash out everything that she ever was and everything that she is, and she's not quite ready to do that.

Whatever she had with Louis Weasley is gone. They haven't even shared a kiss.

Lucy knows that it's time to accept that whatever was there was only in her mind. Besides, it could never work out. Maybe it's time for her to move on.

.

One Tuesday in November, her worst nightmare or best dream comes true. He walks into the coffee shop, still wearing that arrogant smile that she was always so attracted to. They had been best friends at Hogwarts, both in Hufflepuff and the same year, and yet the cliché of two best friends falling in love with each other was unexpected to happen. They were cousins. And, yet, something in Lucy's mind, and head and heart had exploded, leaving her open to feelings that she couldn't control, and led to her falling in love with someone who could never love her back.

She freezes, coffee cup halfway to her mouth, and he smirks. He's always been much too vain for a Hufflepuff, Lucy thinks, but that doesn't stop him at all. She doesn't feel prepared for this moment, sitting there in jeans and a baggy fleece, not even wearing red lipstick like the last time she saw him. It's all Louis standing before her, and she feels as if she wants to run away and yet she doesn't think she could if she tried. She tries opening her mouth, yet finds herself closing it before she's even begun speaking.

"Lucy," Louis says, and Lucy stares down at the table, refusing to reply.

She hears a sigh from above her as Louis continues, "Lucy, you need to listen to me."

"I have nothing to say," she replies. "You haven't spoken to me for months and you expect me to reply when you turn up?"

"Pretty much," Louis replies, suitably abashed. "But, Lucy, listen to me." He sighs, as if there's no way he can express the way he's feeling. "Lucy, I…"

"What?" Lucy snaps, finally looking up at him. "If you're here to ridicule me then you can just go, because I'm not going to be the one who causes a scene."

There's a silence while the two of them just take in the shop, Louis looking around. Lucy wonders if he sees the shop the way she does—full of broken promises, removed engagement rings and heartbreaks. He used to see things in the way that she did, but Lucy isn't sure if she does anymore.

"Lucy, do you ever wonder what the point of all this is?" Louis says suddenly, breaking the silence.

"All this?" Lucy asks, wondering exactly what he means.

He waves his hands around vaguely. "Life in general, I suppose."

"What if there isn't a point?" she replies.

"I used to think that too. And then I began to think about you. In these months when you haven't been here, I've thought a lot."

"Get to the point, Louis," Lucy tells him, "I can't be bothered with your speeches today."

"The point _is_, is that… Lucy, I think I'm in love with you."

She stares at him for a moment, taking in every detail of his eyes, seeing if he's lying or if the words he just said are really true. She can see true sincerity in his eyes, mixed in with pain, and skies and starlit nights.

"You do?" she asks, her voice trembling as she thinks about what might happen if he's lying.

He nods, and smiles, and it's a moment in which mere words cannot express their feelings. It's a moment in which things that were never meant to be come to be, and then they are everything all of a sudden, as though they were never nothing a few minutes ago.

He slides himself onto the seat next to Lucy awkwardly, and gently presses his lips to hers. It's all she's ever wanted into one moment, and she's aware of the fact that all her dreams have come true. He's hers, and that feels as good as his lips pressed against her own. They pull apart, and she's aware of the coffee shop looking at them, the ones she's got to know slightly smiling at them, and Lucy smiles back, remembering the times she's seen broken loves rekindled, friends reunited, and she remembers the times that she's seen people leave the coffee shop that people go to when there is nowhere else to go.

She holds Louis' hand tight, and realises that now is her time. Now is her time to leave the coffee shop, and take her place in the sunlight once more. She has him by her side, and for a moment she doesn't care about the fact that he's her cousin, because in such a moment of joy it seems like an amazingly insignificant thing that is barely worth thinking about. There will be times when it is hard for them to be together, but she realises that she doesn't really care, not when he's by her side.

It's her time to leave the coffee shop, and she feels as though she's on top of the world.

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Definitely not my best work, but I had to rush to write this. It's un-beta'd, so please excuse mistakes. :)

Please don't favourite without reviewing. :)


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